Remember When We Were Naive?

Delphine

Delphine had promised the Galah a more tropical climate, something closer to what he might have been used to before he found her, and so they were heading to Torchline. The children were with her because she had not yet come to the idea that they could maybe survive a day without her. Well, mostly she didn't want to admit that they could survive without her.

They arrived in the port, the hustle and bustle of people around them made the girls' gasp. After all, their mother kept them in relative seclusion; to the point, not too many of the locals in their current home destination knew the children existed. That was out of fear, fear that someone might try to snatch them away from her.

In Northaven people had often called her incompetent, among other things, and she had seen some of those people in the group when she had first portaled in. She didn't think any of them realized she was here, either, but that had been the goal until recently.

The air in Torchline was chilly, but not so chilly that she immediately wished they had dressed in heavier clothing. It was a nice chill. Acantha eagerly tugged her mother's hand, and Delphine followed absently, until she realized the child was walking them right into a group of people. She pulled the girl back, and murmured, "Let's avoid the large groups, okay? Don't you see anything you'd like in an area that's less crowded?" She had never done well in groups.

She had not brought much to trade with, and she was seriously realizing she might need to seek out an actual job. The only thing that had brought her joy in Northaven was... well, healing people and getting high. And she'd only managed to continue one of those things to the extent she had appreciated in her homeland.

Acantha huffed, and they moved in a direction with far fewer people, which eased Bryony's fears as well. Poe had taken off the moment they had stepped through the portal, but she wasn't too worried about the bird. He always came home. As the children peered at different vendors, she was allowing her gaze to wander over the crowd.

And she released the breath she had been holding. Nobody was in the crowd that had once known her. Which meant, for the moment, she had nothing to worry about. There was also a tinge of disappointment that washed over her, but she ignored it, shoved it to the side. It wasn't important that she was disappointed that nobody here would know her. It was, overall, a good thing.

"We're just looking," she stated to a vendor, as he began talking prices to the girls. As she hurried away from him with the children in tow she murmured in a quiet tone, "We're just looking."

Remi

Let me make you smile, darling.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

There were some sights you were never ready for; some ghosts, too. Perhaps especially ghosts.

The one that wove her way through the crowd was one such ghost. Despite the small hands clutching at hers, Remi thought he could still see in her the girl who he'd gone for picnics with. Who he'd warned about the roughness of her wedding night. Who he'd nearly been thrown in jail over, for having his head in her lap when her husband came home. Then again perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps she was just a ghost of a girl he'd once known so well.

And perhaps that was for the best.

Perhaps it wasn't even her at all...

...which only made it impossible not to find out for sure. And so, unlike the trio, Remi wove his way through the throng of shoppers until he was near enough to hear her voice. A voice which had scolded him, had toyed with him, had adored him. A voice he hadn't heard in years, and yet here she was.

"You shouldn't be here." Remi's accent had grown all the thicker during his time in Caido, no longer needing to smooth it out for the bluebloods of Northaven. But that wasn't he only change. Gone was the boyish face that always had a smile, replaced with the stern expression of a man who has seen too much. There is significant scar tissue at the base of his throat and beneath the plain white shirt he wears. His hair is still a mess of disheveled curls, though now sea-washed and wind-dried, they don't look quite so soft. Physically changed as well, much stronger and bulkier than ever before, people in the market actually move around him, many having heard stories of his and Ronin's exploits and wanting nothing to do with the reckless man they've come to know.

Delphine

Delphine was trying to explain to Acantha, who was demanding to know why she couldn't get the pretty dress, exactly why the new dress wasn't within their grasp right now. And it wasn't going anywhere. Nobody, thusfar, had bothered addressing the young woman, nor her gremlins.

And then, "You shouldn't be here."

She tensed, turning slowly to face the stranger. There was not a hint of recognition in her eyes, instead there was... well, fear. It wasn't everyday someone you didn't know walked up to you and told you that you should not be where you were. Especially not a heavily scarred man, with enough muscle to make her eager to leave.

And so, "I'm sorry. Let's go, children." Her voice was quiet, level despite her fear. It didn't help her that the people around her were giving the stranger wide berth.

"Mama! You promised a whole day of 'sploration," accused Acantha, shaking her head, causing her dark curls to fly wildly around her face. Meanwhile, Bryony had moved behind of her mother, Delphine had zero idea why the girl thought she could actually protect her.

The shy child's voice was hard to hear over the clamor of the area, but Delphine made out: "W...n... go... 'ome."

Let me make you smile, darling.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

He should have let her go, but like so many men before him, he didn't.

Remi cared little for the worries and mewlings of Delphine's children; after Aoife had died the alchemist had little love for young ones anymore. Though perhaps that would change. It had only been a season or so since she was killed in his arms after all. So, tugging in a breath through his nose and releasing it slowly, Remi took a few large steps after the retreating woman and her brood, before calling out: 'Delphine.' in a low voice that held only the merest echo of the boy who'd once flown into her window as a bird, that neither of them might have to sleep alone.

Cold adrenaline washed through Remi's legs making them feel both shaky and rock-like. Ignoring the feeling and instead keeping his eyes focused on the once-healer (she had a way of disappearing, that she did), he had to fight the urge to scratch at his unshaven cheeks or ruffle a hand through his curls to try and release some of his nervous energy.

Delphine

Delphine's gaze was fixed on the ground as she began to walk, jerking one fighting child behind of her, the other following obediantly. She didn't get far before a voice, the same one that had said she did not belong here, or rather, should not be here, called out to her.

This time... her name.

She stopped in place, tilting her head, quickly sorting through faces she thought she might remember. Voices...

The fact that he had said her name sent a cold chill through her body. After all, she had a habit of breaking people, and disappearing. Not that she'd really accept it was a habit, though. She was good at denying things. After a moment of staring down at the girls, she released them both with a quiet order of: "Stay together, okay?"

Always naive. They'd be safe together, in the open, wouldn't they? Without stopping to really think beyond her reassurance to herself that they'd be fine, she turned to fully face the man.

Her voice quivered, as she spoke his name, well she hoped she had chosen the right person to assume, "R... Remi?" She didn't move from her spot, even as she felt the children move away from her legs, off into a nearby gaggle of people. She sent an order to Poe, to keep an eye on the children; it'd be hard to miss a bright pink bird circling the two of them.

"I..." She felt compelled to explain herself--though for what, she wasn't quite sure.

Let me make you smile, darling.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

She might have been at a loss for words, but he wasn't.

This wasn't the first ghost from his past to reappear; she was his third. First had been Ianto, who he had forgotten and then nearly fallen in love with again. Next had been Loren, who he had loved and now wish he could grind from his mind. So to see someone else from his past who had once held a special place in his heart only to gone missing was not a shock. Perhaps that was why his gaze was stern, and not surprised or confused.

Still, he had to ask the unavoidable question: "Where the fuck have you been." It was callous and crass, but it cut to the quick of all of this. Had she an explanation, or hadn't she?

Or perhaps the better question was: with all the changes the alchemist had undergone in the years since he'd last seen his once bestfriend, had he changed enough that he was no longer wrapped around her finger? That whatever her excuse, justified or selfish or whatever else, that he'd shrug it off and forgive her as he always had?

Delphine

Delphine had known the question was coming. But it confirmed it was him and... that made her want to cry. She knew better than to cry, of course. She didn't know how he felt about her or would feel about her once she admitted that for two years she had hidden with her children in a cave, isolating herself in her denial, and then because it was just what she knew how to do...

Quietly, still rooted in place, she responded: "In a cave, in the Hollowed Grounds." She'd never left, even after the barrier had gone down. "With them," she gestured vaguely over her shoulder, to the girls', who were long gone on their own adventure, something that was giving her anxiety, but for now... Remi had her attention.

"It... felt safer, than Caido, after we all portaled in." She averted her gaze to stare to the ground, biting her lip. "I was... afraid that Bellamy was here, too, and that..." She drifted off, almost like a child who was being scolded because that was how it felt.

"...well, I think Zariah was right; I was just a toy to him, a pet. And..." Zariah's words about how her husband would treat her had seared into her mind; because the woman had been right. "...I was afraid he'd take the kids. He didn't come, though, as far as I know. But..." That fear would stay in the back of her mind until she found another high-powered person to cling too, or learned to protect herself.

One was more likely than the other.

Let me make you smile, darling.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

Bitterly he wanted to ask if she was with Loren, since apparently that's where he'd been as well. Funny that, how those he'd once loved so much had hidden themselves away in more or less the same place.

Narrowing his eyes at the mention of the Master Chief, for a moment true confusion contorted the alchemist's rather stern features. It was so long ago now...though he did vaguely remember Delphine's misadventures into the area outside of the wall, her lack of healing to both Ronin and Loren and the rest...the birth of the twins...

"He could be here still. Stranger things have happened." The alchemist replied, a touch more ominously than was strictly necessary. Neron was outside of the barrier, and Ianto too. Saiden and Eloise as well. There was every reason to think Bellamy was still lurking about somewhere.

Running a hand up the side of his face with a sigh of frustration, Remi glanced over Delphine's shoulder, and then back again. "This is no place for you, or your children. I meant it when I said you shouldn't be here. Torchline is not the friendliest or safest." That she might be sexually assaulted in the streets was as likely as anything else.

Delphine

Delphine puffed her cheeks out when Remi stated that her husband could still be here, and she shrugged. "I like to think that he isn't." Mostly because she was hoping he wasn't around here. And she was hoping he didn't show up.

"Trouble," shrieked the bird, as he dive-bombed Delphine, tangling in her hair. He repeated the phrase in her ear, squawking and panicking, loudly enough that she could only catch half of what Remi had said. Torchline was not a safe place.

She reached to undo the bird from her hair, tossing him into the air. He was still shouting 'trouble', as he flew in frantic circles, trying to get Delphine to follow him. She huffed, fingers running through her now-tangled hair, and glanced over her shoulder. "Nowhere's really safe," She wanted to say something more, but the shrieking bird had caused her to lose her train of thought. So instead, she started after the bird, slipping through the crowd that the bird was leading her into.

Acantha and Bryony had found a stall full of food, and the children had gone unnoticed for a while, grabbing things within reach and sitting in front of the stall to eat. It wasn't until another customer pointed them out, that the vendor hauled both girls by the backs of their shirts. The man's face was purple, as he angrily spat words at her children, words they would not understand as they should because Delphine had never taught them how to behave in public; never taught them that you had to pay for things. She shouldn't have let them go off, and she realized that now.

Acantha shouted, 'Mama', and the man's attention and fury found her. She puffed her cheeks out, listening quietly before she dipped her hand into her pocket to dig out an item that had once been her most treasured. A little ring, with an inlay of stones. Handcrafted, if she recalled correctly.

"Will this do?" It was probably far more than the children had taken, and she held it up for the man to see. He looked rather agreeable, and her lips pursed in thought. The children, who had been promptly dropped the moment she had shown up to take responsibility for their actions, had scurried behind her.

She really wished they'd stop doing that. If someone really wanted to hurt one of them, she'd probably just stand by and watch, unless it didn't benefit her in some way.

Her anger with the children did not show on her face, as she handed the ring over, and yanked both of them along with her. It did show in her movements. She'd been saving that ring for... well, a rainy day, honestly.

Let me make you smile, darling.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

"Think whatever you want. Doesn't change reality." Remi replied cooley, raising a brow at Delphine's willful ignorance.

Predatory gold appeared in Remi's sea-glass stare as Poe dove towards Delphine. Were his instincts less honed, he might have reached out and slashed the bird out of the sky. Instead, his hands merely balled into fists as he watched Delphine distractedly remove the bird and then almost lazily retreat through the crowd.

With a grumble, Remi reluctantly followed. The alchemist, who could still create something from nothing, merely watched as the ring was traded away. He could have stopped it, could easily have intimidated the merchant into letting things go or offering him something else of more appropriate value. He didn't, though. Remi had lost all notion of sentimentality since losing Aoife. He'd even thrown his own wedding ring away once (though luckily Ronin had the foresight to find it for him).

Like a shadow behind Delphine, the alchemist merely stared at she and her brood. "I suppose that's what happens when you raise your children in a cave." He noted dryly.

Delphine

Delphine tipped her head, "Mmm... I guess I probably shouldn't have isolated them so badly from the world." She'd stopped next to the man, her gaze watching the pink bird as he flew circles, lazily, around them. "I was scared." She murmured, her grip on the children's shoulder loosened gently, though she did not release them entirely.

"I'm still scared." She admitted, slowly, moving to grasp each child's hand in her own. Bryony was sniffling, sobbing quietly, while Acantha simply looked pissed. She drifted into silence, her gaze flitting around the crowd, colors invading her vision, and then she said:
"I'm sorry, that I didn't try to find you."

She studied the children, pursing her lips in thought. "I..." She trailed off, shifting her weight, and then, the next thing out of her mouth was not focused on herself. A truly rare event.

"How are you?" He wasn't that starry-eyed boy she had met in the forest on a rainy day, that same starry-eyed boy that had constantly had her husband telling her to 'watch herself' because they were so close. Standing beside him now, she still felt like there was a river of distance between them. And she wasn't sure how to cross it, or if it could be crossed.

And that's why she hadn't wanted to run into him. Perhaps if she had tried to find him a month or two after portaling in, but... years later? It had to feel like a cruel joke, and she realized that. Life felt like a joke to her, anyway.

Let me make you smile, darling.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

'So what changed? From going from hiding from Bellamy to just...choosing to believe he's gone?" For all that Delphine was (or used to be, anyways), she wasn't a complete idiot. Self-serving and selfish, but surely something had given way, for her to think wandering around Torchline was a better idea than hiding away from the ghost of her husband.

Shrugging at her offered apology, the alchemist glanced over his shoulder and then hers, to make sure no wandering eyes were lingering too long upon them. "You aren't the first and won't be the last." He said with a tempered sigh.

"I'm fine. Married now, actually." Holding up a hand upon which there was a ring inlaid with stars, the alchemist wiggled his fingers slightly as if the ring needed any more attention drawn to it. Somewhere far away Ronin would feel his husband's heart give an awkward thud.

Delphine

Delphine hummed, shrugging. "Maybe if I believe it, I can learn to move on. It's better than hiding because I miss him, and then being ashamed because I miss him," she clicked her tongue. "I guess... maybe I'm hoping, even if he does show up, he won't be in my life. That might be a better way to put it." She offered the man a slight smile, though she didn't expect him to understand.

When he held up his hand, she grinned, "Ooh. To who?" It was an important question and even more important answer, and the excitement on her face was genuine Delphine. "That ring is gorgeous."

Let me make you smile, darling.

walked out this morning and i wrote down this song.
i just can't remember who to send it to

But...he did understand, in his own way. Remi had loved and lost Loren, only to have him come back and...well, for the entire thing to grow infinitely complicated before it all exploded. It wasn't at all Delphine's situation, but if the root of her problems was being ashamed for wanting someone, that was a feeling the alchemist knew all too well. "Well I've not seen him in all the time I've been here, nor heard word of him. And given who he was before, I think I would have by now." Remi shrugged his broad shoulders.

Only mention of Ronin could be counted on to make Remi smile, and he did just that: cheeks flushing slightly with adoration as dimples appeared. "Ronin Taliesin. I'm sure you remember him." Once upon a time Delphine was the only one who really knew that Remi was gay. When he'd first been with Ianto, it was Delphine he'd told and when he'd developed feelings for Loren...well, he'd gone to her as well. It seemed full-circle to tell her that he was married to a man now, only...only she'd missed it. She'd missed everything.